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IP: more on Letter to Michael Robertson [LINDOWS] from Bruce Perens


From: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Sat, 13 Apr 2002 20:33:46 -0400


From: Brett Glass <brett () lariat org>

Dave:

Again, the anti-business intent of Stallman, Perens, and the
"Free" Software Foundation rears its ugly head.

The fact is that the "Lindows" system consists of Linux, for
which the source code is already very widely available, and
WINE, which (at the time that Lindows incorporated it) was
licensed under the X11 license. (The latter license does not
require modifications to be published at all, though Lindows
has been good enough to do so in many cases.)

In short, not only are Mr. Perens' demands unfounded, but
they reveal his true intent: to prevent legitimate software
businesses from producing good products (in this case, ironically,
one that would popularize the use of Linx, which Perens promotes!)
via legal threats based on the GPL. How is this different from
what the RIAA does when it attempts to quash the use of music?

--Brett Glass

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